The Rainmaker

Movie: Rajneeti
Language: Hindi
Date : Saturday, 05 June 2010

Review
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To hold the attention span of a viewer is very difficult in this age when there are so many distractions at one's finger tips. Many movies struggle to hold viewer's attention for 2 or 2.5 hours. And amidst this is Prakash Jha's new movie 'Rajneeti' which succeeds to hold the interest for almost 90% of the 2 hours and 50 minutes length of the movie. This Sweeping epic full of melodrama is commendable for that one facet among others.
'Rajneeti' is a political melodrama about 2 families who fight in the dirt of Hindi Heartland politics to gain power and supremacy. Close to a Dozen characters are unleased on the screen which may confuse the viewer about their relations and this takes a good time to settle down. Performances are really competant. The youngest actor being the best i.e Ranbir Kapoor. He is the ace strategist and has the maximum screen time. Close on the heels are performances by Arjun Rampal and Katrina Kaif. Manoj Bhajpai also puts in a good villain act. Ajay Devgan is a bit of a disappointment considering his potential. Nana and Naseerudin are present and just that.
One of the major negatives, is the heaviness of the proceedings. Never does it divert to a lighter note. So, you have close to 3 hours of intense drama. A lighter scene never arrives. Prakash Jha had 2 good tracks in 'Bheegi Si' and 'Mora Piya' which are wasted as background passing tracks. The movie could have been shorter by 10 minutes atleast but that doesn't mean that it is boring.
Prakash Jha's Direction is really top notch becasue to have these many characters and not to loose track at any point with them, is commendable. To have 3 hours of unrelenting high voltage poilitical melodrama is a great ability in itself. He never tries to ridicule the system or preach which comes as a relief. Just look at 'Rajneeti' and its just a story, say like Mahabharatha. There is no effort from the director's part to preach or lament.
'Rajneeti' should be taken as serious cinema and its been a long time since we had such a high voltage drama on Bollywood screens. There is never a dull moment.

Verdict - 3.5/5 and 'Engaging Drama' as an opinion.

'Rajneeti' - Sweeping Epic ...Political Melodrama.